LUCKNOW: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Lucknow Zonal Office, provisionally attached movable assets worth Rs 1.52 Crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in the Netar Sabharwal and others bank fraud case.
The attached properties are in the form of two fixed deposits belonging to Manmohan Agarwal (proprietor of M/s Shiv Jewellers) amounting to Rs 1.22 Crore (approx.) and Mayur Agarwal (proprietor of M/s JS Jewellers) amounting to Rs 30.76 Lakh (approx.), totalling Rs 1.52 Crore (approx.).
The ED initiated an investigation based on an FIR registered by ACB, CBI Ghaziabad under various sections of IPC, 1860, where it was alleged that bank accounts were fraudulently used for cash deposits during the demonetisation period in November-December 2016.
The ED investigation revealed that cash was fraudulently deposited during the demonetisation period in certain bank accounts. The investigation further revealed that the officers/officials of J&K Bank entered into a criminal conspiracy with some private persons, committed forgery by falsifying the bank records for such bank accounts, and deliberately allowed the huge cash deposits during demonetisation.
The ED investigation also found that the cash fraudulently deposited during demonetisation in certain bank accounts was subsequently layered and routed multiple times in a series of suspicious transactions and thereafter sent to the ultimate beneficiary by camouflaging the same as genuine business transactions.
The ED investigation revealed that out of many entities, M/s Shiv Jewellers (Proprietor Manmohan Agarwal) and M/s JS Jewellers (Proprietor Mayur Agarwal) were the ultimate beneficiaries of the deposited money. The ED has now attached movable assets in the form of a fixed deposit worth Rs 1.52 Crore (approx.) belonging to them. Further investigation is in progress.
